Maarten de Vries was not a man to be ignored.
Not necessarily by his own choice; he simply stood out.
And while this came in handy at times, it also got him into a lot of trouble.
One bar fight here, one back alley fight there.
It built a reputation.

And when you have a fearsome reputation, it's hard to get rid off it.
God knew he had tried.
But even after seven years at medical school and graduating with top grades, he couldn't shake the rumour off him.

So Maarten made the best of the situation that he could.
He wasn't stupid; far from it.
Maarten was well educated and enjoyed books and the silence they brought with them in numbers.
With a keen mind for business and profit he had turned to witch hunting.
It seemed logical.

Find "witches", get rid of them, cash in money from gullible people. Repeat until he grew bored.
It was foolproof.

Until a fool found how to ruin it all.

Maarten first became aware that something was wrong when the woman he was supposed to burn for witchcraft escaped from within the cell in front of his very eyes. A layer of dust floating in the air was all that spoke of her having been the at all.
The next sign was that people were found dead in back alleys, no sign of a fight or a struggle.

Just two small puncture wounds in their neck.

Maarten performed several dissections on the victims to determine what it had been.
But there was nothing to suggest anything wrong with them biologically. There were no damage to organs - internal or external. No organs were missing. No external trauma. No bruises or broken bones.

The only thing they all had in common was the lack of blood in their veins.

It was his first run in with a vampire.
An undead.
A creature from the shadows who did not die by guns or swords alone.

And while he executed the woman and burnt her heart; he knew it wouldn't be the last time he faced one of these killers.

But Maarten didn't fear them. He instead studied them.
From history books to catching them and observing them in captivity in his lab.
Maarten discovered what made them tick.
He discovered what they fed on.
How they fed.
How they moved.
Slept.

But most importantly; he discovered how to kill them.

Slowly he build himself a reputation.

Maarten de Vries; the vampire hunter.

From all over Europe people summoned him for his assistance, and while his prices weren't cheap - he never once failed a job.
His fame and wealth grew, and with it his ego.
He was invincible.

Or so he thought.

It was the eve of his 30th birthday that he met him.
Mircea had been charming, witty and willing to buy him drinks.
Which was all Maarten needed tonight.
They had spoke of universities, the economy and how unreliable banks could be.
Maarten had even laughed at the man's jokes.

"So, doctor de Vries," Mircea had asked as he swirled his wine around in his glass "what is it you do outside of teaching young men how to cut open corpses?"
"I hunt vampires," Maarten had replied without pause, smiling ever so slightly. He took pride in his work. He saved lives outside of hospitals - he had every right to be proud.
"Vampires? What for?"
"To rid the world of them," Maarten rolled his eyes "they infect the very heart of society like a plague, bring out the worst in humans and bleed them all dry like the desert,"

"Oh my, sounds like you have a personal vendetta!"
"Not at all. I just don't like plagues and sickness,"
"But are they really that?"
"What else could they be?" Maarten spat into his empty glass and slid it across the bar.
"They hide in shadows, they prey on the weak and scurry away from all that is good and holy. Clearly they are vermin,"
"But even vermin belong in this world. Do they not?"
"Not this type," Maarten grumbled, however, as Mircea placed his hand on his shoulder he became aware of how quiet the bar had suddenly gone.

Looking up, Maarten realised he was all alone - save for the Romanian man by his side.
"What's going on?"
"It is your birthday tomorrow, is it not?" Mircea whispered and smirked dangerously.
"I just thought I'd give you a little present,"

Maarten's eyes widened in fear as he saw the glint of sharp fangs.
But he couldn't move.
Frozen in place; held down by shadows and fear he could only watch as Mircea leant in closer.

The sensation of teeth sinking into his neck was unlike anything he had imagined.
He had done experiments. He had sustained many injuries.
But never once had those teeth bit him.

Maarten felt his consciousness slipping as the world began to go dark at the edges.
His vision was blurring and there wasn't anything he could do.
He felt angry at falling for the trap.
He felt rage at this vampire for succeeding.

But most of all, Maarten felt fear.

Fear that this was how it ended.
Miles from home and without being able to say goodbye to his sister.

"Foolish man," he heard Mircea whisper in his ear before everything went black.

—-

A hangover was nothing new.
But this was like no hangover he had ever had.
Maarten awoke with a splitting headache and rolled out of bed and onto the floor like a very ungraceful sack of potatoes.
Cursing, he slowly sat up and rubbed his sore head.
Bit by bit the night before stared to come back to him.

He had been drinking.
A lot.
There had been a man.
Very nice. Smartly dressed.
He had bought him drinks.
A lot.
And he had smiled.

Maarten stopped breathing and stood up far too fast.
Stumbling out of his room and to the bathroom, he practically tore down the mirror in the wall as he stared at his own reflection.
The relief of seeing his own reflection was short lived.
Besides the dark circles and pale skin, two puncture wounds on his neck stood out like sore thumbs.
Shaking, Maarten slowly ran his tongue over his teeth.

His heart appeared to skip several beats when he hit sharp fangs, and shakily he opened his mouth to confirm his fear.
Fangs.
Just like Mircea.
Just like all the vampires he had killed.
He was just like them.

With a rage filled scream, Maarten shattered the mirror with his fist.
He heaved for air and dug his fist into the glass shards.
Only temporarily calmed by the sight of his own blood oozing out of the cuts.

Maybe there was a cure? He tried to reason to himself.
Maybe he wouldn't have to become a monster?
However, as he watched the cuts close up and heal themselves as if they had never been there, Maarten's heart sank.

Hesitantly he made his way to the kitchen.
He was thirsty, but no amount of water satisfied him.
Milk did no good either.
Beer, vodka, wine.
He drank everything he could and still the hunger for something sat deep within him.

Blood, he thought.
Vampires drank blood.
But he couldn't allow himself to sink to their levels.
He couldn't let himself become one of them.

Blood. Blood.
Blood was made up of different components!
Perhaps if he could find the right ingredients, he wouldn't need to kill?

The thought spurred him on, and a little seed of hope took root in his heart.
He could win this war he decided.

He could save himself from this curse, and continue his work.

Water, sugar, sodium, fructose, folic acid, insulin, iron, sulfur, zinc, mercury and numerous vitamins.
Amongst some.
He could create a cocktail of components found in blood.
And if he was lucky - it might still his craving.

He was a doctor. He had access to everything he needed.
Books, labs, and all the ingredients and drugs he could want.

Systematically, he could treat this like a disease.
And diseases had cures. Or at least ways to slow them down.

The concoction was far from tasty, and several times Maarten felt like he had to vomit as he gulped down the pitcher of his 'medicine'.
But it stilled the thirst.
Somewhat at least.

He could continue.
Maarten had to smirk.

Soon he would find out just why Doctor Maarten de Vries was such a feared man.
Maarten swore he would prove just how dangerous he could be.

Vampires were a disease, and as a doctor his duty was to rid the world of disease.

The vampire had thought he could beat him; and Mircea had certainly won the battle, but the war was not over.

Names used in this fic:
Maarten - Netherlands
Mircea - Romania
Erik - Norway
Halldór - Iceland
Cecilé - Monaco
Veronique - Seychelles
Ciprian - Moldova